1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a safety alert apparatus, especially to a safety alert apparatus for solitary persons, and more particularly, to a safety alert apparatus that detects the activities of solitary persons.
2. Prior Art
A safety alert apparatus designed to detect the activity of solitary persons is configured to generate and provide alerts to designated receivers, when abnormal phenomena are detected. In an aging society, as number of elderly citizens living alone increases, demands in the safety alert apparatus for solitary persons also increase.
The safety alert apparatus of course is not designed especially for solitary persons. For example, in watch rooms, duty rooms, jailhouses, detentions, hospitals and similar locations, where monitoring the activity human being or animals without unnecessary invasion is necessary, the safety alert apparatus are provided to ensure the safety of the persons or animals being monitored.
The traditional safety alert apparatuses are designed to detect the activeness of a person being monitored. In such apparatuses, an alert signal is generated, when the person to be monitored has stopped his/her activity for a predetermined time. The theory of such safety alert apparatus is, if the person is active, i.e. with activity being detected from time to time, there is no safety concern. On the other hand, if no activity of the monitored person is detected over a predetermined time, the person might have lost his/her capability. An alert is thus generated and provided to a monitoring station or control center for necessary actions, either to contact the person being monitored or to call for rescue.
In the conventional art, a plurality of safety alert apparatuses has been suggested and disclosed.
Taiwan utility model registration No. M336489 disclosed a protection/monitoring alert apparatus. The apparatus provides an image motion detect, an infrared human body motion detect or an infrared transceiver, or any combination thereof, to be provided in a plurality of detection regions, so to detect the activity of a human body, whereby frequency of activity may be calculated.
Taiwan utility model registration No. M394463 disclosed an infrared position detection apparatus. The apparatus uses an infrared detector unit to detect infrared signals generated by at least one video camera and to generate detection signals upon detection of the infrared signals. A control unit receives the detection signals and determines location of the video camera, according to location information stored in an embedded cameral position file. A position signal is then generated to identify position of the video camera that has detected an invasion event.
Taiwan utility model registration No. M449321 disclosed an “Off-bed detection and early-warning sensor device,” comprising off-bed detection and warning sensors provided at both sides of a patient's bed. Infrared interrupters are used to determine if the patient is in bed. When the patient leaves the bed, an alert is generated and provided to medical supervision for early warning.
Taiwan utility model registration No. M432898 disclosed an intelligent life and property protection, disaster prevention and healthcare system, with a control center that coordinates one or more living body sensing devices through network systems. The living body sensing devices are selected from a temperature sensing device, a passive infrared sensing device, an active infrared sensing device and an infrared thermal camera. An alert is generated, when inactivity over a predetermined time, abnormal temperature, over activity, abnormal life phenomenon etc. of a living body, or unusual operation of a household electrical device, is detected.
In these and other conventional apparatuses, abnormal phenomena such as likelihood of danger and inactivity of a target being monitored are determined after complicated calculations. Some conventional apparatuses used sensing devices to be fixed at particular locations, to ensure correct detection. These and other reasons made the conventional safety alert apparatuses expensive in design and manufacture costs. In addition, their detectors tend to misplace or disorientate, therefore impact the detection efficiency.
It is thus necessary for the industry to provide a novel safety alert system that provides simplified detection methods, so that conventional detectors may be used in the safety alert apparatus for correct detection.
It is also necessary to provide a safety alert apparatus that is able to utilize devices already existing in the environment to conduct necessary detection, whereby to obtain correct detection results.